MemSQL Heats Up In-Memory Competition

MemSQL has made a name for itself as a highly scalable, in-memory transactional database management system, but on Thursday a new release was announced that will add a columnar engine and expanded storage options to better address historical analysis.

MemSQL, the vendor behind the DBMS, says its 3.0 release, which is expected in the second quarter, will blend row-based processing and columnar-analysis capabilities supported by new Flash and disk storage options. The new features complement the RAM-intensive, distributed platform so it can take on deeper historical analysis.

“Many of our customers have been telling us they want to put more information in MemSQL, and the only way to do that without adding more [expensive] machines is to be able to spill over onto Flash or disk storage,” Eric Frenkiel, co-founder and CEO of MemSQL, told InformationWeek in a phone interview. “By joining the row store with a columnar engine, we get a seamless combination of live data as well as historical data.”